Student achievements
Built by young tinkers
Satellites from village bamboo. Rovers that raced at NASA. Startups that began with Rs 1,000. Every idea on this page was dreamt up, built and tested by a child or young person in a Young Tinker Space, on a Tinker on Wheels visit or at a TinkerFest, most of them in government schools, orphanages and villages.
Milestones
Proud moments, year by year
- 2019
A bamboo bot for the river
Grade 5 students at our village campus in Baral build a river cleaning bot from bamboo. More
- 2020
Student innovator of the year
Tanvi Mallick is named student innovator of the year 2019-20 by NITI Aayog.
- 2021
World Rank 3 at NASA
India's first interdisciplinary under-19 team finishes third in the world at the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge, and wins the Videography Award. More
- 2021
Intel global winner
Rishikesh Amit Nayak's pest prediction AI wins at the Intel AI Global Impact Festival. More
- 2022
Top 60 of 6.53 lakh
Shreyansh Vikas Mishra's neck support device is honoured at the INSPIRE MANAK national exhibition. More
- 2023
Back at NASA
A second team, including two children from Adruta Children's Home, wins the Social Media Award at NASA HERC 2023. More
- 2024
School startups get funded
Students at Young Tinker Spaces in Berhampur and Mahbubnagar pitch and fund their first businesses. Pepro sells over 2,000 bags. More
- 2024
Satellites, twice
V-SAT reaches the national CANSAT finals of IN-SPACe and ISRO. In December, YTSAT 1.0 flies to 12 km above Soro. More
- 2024
India Skills silver
Rina Bagha, the welder of our first NASA rover, wins silver in welding at the India Skills Competition. More
- 2025
Eight village students in Texas
Students from government schools in Soro and Brahmapur pitch their startups at the ISF Global Junicorn and AI Summit, USA. More
- 2025
TiE Young Entrepreneurs winner
Jagadish, from Young Tinker Space 1678 at Touch Orphanage, wins the TYE Hyderabad regional finals. More
- 2026
TinkerFest goes to the Himalayas
Rover, rocket and startup challenges in Cuttack, Mirzapur, Chaukori and Hyderabad. More
The innovations
Everything our kids have made
Pick a theme to filter. Each card links to the full story.
YTSAT 1.0, a satellite from a village
Digbijay Sahu, Rutuparna Jena, Satyajit Moharana, Koushik Kar, Chiranjib Barik, Jigyansa Sahu, Archana Jena, Debasmita Barik
A 10.5 cm CubeSat with Arduino Nano, temperature, humidity and pressure sensors and a LoRa radio. Satyajit, a carpenter's son, built the frame from village bamboo; Rutuparna stitched the parachute from an old umbrella.
Flew to 12 km on a helium balloon in front of 3,000 people
Read the story →
YTSAT 2.0, a balloon satellite for farmers
Digbijay Sahu, Chiranjib Barik
A helium balloon satellite with LIDAR, nano-sensors and LoRa that reads soil health, crop stress and water levels and sends the findings to a farmer's phone.
Pitched at ISF Global Junicorn and AI Summit, Texas State University
Read the story →
V-SAT, a can-sized satellite
Subhranshu Ranjan Das, Ayushman Jena, Subhankar Nayak, Pallabi Parimita Nayak, Debankar Subhram, Swagat Sekhar Panda, Faizur Rahman, Inayatulla Khan
Tracks altitude, pressure, temperature, velocity and orientation during descent, with a 3D printed casing and a self-made carbon fibre frame.
Finalist, Student CANSAT Launch Competition 2024 (IN-SPACe, ISRO); the only team from Odisha
Read the story →
Satellite ground station
VSSUT Burla students
A ground station for satellite communication, built by the students.
Read the story →
CanSat and drone
Sandip Kumar Mohanty, Adyasha Rout, Shubhashree Behera, Jyoti Ranjan Sahoo, Amritanshu Nanda
A miniature satellite inside a soda can and a fully working drone, shown with a dual fuel engine at Utkal Fab Fest.
Commended by the Utkal Fab Fest jury, Startup Odisha
Read the story →
Black Falcon water rocket
Namini Rathour, Jyoti Koranga, Rituraj, Saurav Joshi, Palak Shah
A rocket made from a recycled PET bottle, tuned for pressure, angle and fin design to hit a target distance.
Champions, Hydro Rocket Challenge, TinkerFest Himalayas
Read the story →
First rockets of 42 Mouza
Hydro rocket teams, island village of 42 Mouza
Students calculated launch angles and measured pressure before launch. For many it was the first thing they had built that flew.
Read the story →
Human-powered rover for NASA, 2021
Rishikesh Amit Nayak, Shreyansh Vikas Mishra, Anjishnu Pattanayak, Tanvi Mallick, Kanuri Varshini, Ankan Mondal, Nitesh Patnaik, Danda Pani Patra, Kailash Chandra Barik, Rina Bagha
India's first interdisciplinary under-19 team at the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge, picked from 800 students. A cycle mechanic and a roadside welder built the chassis.
World Rank 3, High School Division, plus the Videography Award
Read the story →
Lunar rover for NASA, 2023
Basudeba Bhoi, Akankashya Dash, Om Padhi, Sai Akshara Vemuri, Siddhanth Ghosh, Chittineni Akarsh
A human-powered rover for simulated Martian and lunar terrain, raced in Huntsville, Alabama against 61 teams from around the world.
Social Media Award, NASA HERC 2023
Read the story →
Team Surya's overnight rover
Bikram Kushwaha (Class 6), Sunil Kumar, Sujit Kumar, Amarkant Kumar, Dipu Kumar
The youngest team travelled 50 km by bus, built their rover through the night and cleared every obstacle on the track.
Best Presentation Award, TinkerFest Sonbhadra
Read the story →
AstraX remote-control rover
Ankit, Shubham, Dev Kumar, Nitesh Kumar, Jayasant Kumar
Built overnight for a 9-obstacle track of sand, water, boulders, a bridge and side slopes. The team later brought Tinker on Wheels to their own village, Arjhat.
First prize, Rover Challenge, TinkerFest Sonbhadra
Read the story →
PATHFINDER-X
Charan, Sakshith, Rishik, Shiva Leela (Team Phoenix Crew)
The fastest run of the day: the full obstacle course in 20 seconds, with precise control through the 90-degree turns.
Champion, TinkerFest at MOURI Tech
Read the story →
Nexus mountain rover
Manish Harariya, Anshu Dhami, Chandesh Koranga, Chandan Koranga, Prince Shah
A remote-control rover of acrylic, nuts, bolts and motors, built to climb simulated Himalayan terrain.
Second place, Rover Challenge, TinkerFest Himalayas
Read the story →
Team Suryadaya rover
Team Suryadaya
Wheels, gearing and suspension built from scratch to cross a course that tests agility and durability.
First position, TinkerFest Bhubaneswar
Read the story →
River cleaning bot from bamboo
Grade 5 students
A river cleaning bot built from bamboo.
Read the story →
Skateboard from old roller skates
Pradesh Pandey and Aman (Class 6)
Two broken roller skates and a plank turned into a working skateboard.
Read the story →
Kishan Know, AI that predicts pest attacks
Rishikesh Amit Nayak
Reads thermal and visible images of fields to spot bacterial and pest outbreaks before they spread, for about a dollar. Built after he saw locusts ruin farmers in his village.
Global winner, Intel AI Global Impact Festival; recognised by ICAR
Read the story →
Masala GPT
P. Aditya, Soumya Sourav Gouda
An AI dispenser that mixes more than 500 regional spice blends from ten base ingredients. Describe a taste and it makes the blend.
Pitched at ISF Global Junicorn and AI Summit, Texas
Read the story →
Ashram Laddu Company
TinkerHaat team
Iron and calcium rich mahua laddus made and sold by students at their own market stall.
Read the story →
Rural Volt
Koushik Kar, Sridhar Jena
Small ethanol units inside the village so farmers turn crop waste into clean fuel, creating jobs where people live.
Pitched at ISF Global Junicorn and AI Summit, Texas
Read the story →
S.O.B.A.D.Y, an off-grid electric vehicle
Sai Satyam Pradhan
A self-optimised autonomous EV that makes its own power from sun, wind, wheel rotation and vibration, managed by AI.
Pitched at ISF Global Junicorn and AI Summit, Texas
Read the story →
Portable solar lamp from a recycled jar
Samiksha Jena and team (Class 6)
A portable solar lamp built inside a recycled jar.
Read the story →
Four working models for Rs 60
Dev Kumar, Jayasant Kumar (Class 8)
A solar house, a rainwater harvesting house, a tractor and a windmill, all from simple materials costing Rs 60 in total.
Star Innovator, Tinker on Wheels Sonbhadra
Read the story →
Solar and rainwater house
Nitesh, Shubham Kumar (Class 8)
Models showing how solar power and rainwater harvesting can cut costs in homes and schools.
Star Innovator, Tinker on Wheels Sonbhadra
Read the story →
Water for drought-prone villages
Supriya Rani Rout, Muna Nayak, Ayushman Dalai (Class 7)
A plan that joins water harvesting, filtration and low-cost distribution, pitched with a full budget.
Star Innovator, Tinker on Wheels Bhubaneswar
Read the story →
Rainwater harvesting house
Kajal Kumari (Class 8)
A model house that saves rainwater, sold alongside rakhis she made from waste wool.
Star Innovator, Tinker on Wheels Sonbhadra
Read the story →
Pepro Bags
Jagadeesh, Anil, Srikanth
Newspaper bags with jute handles that replace plastic, printed with each customer's logo.
More than 2,000 bags sold; founder selected for TiE Young Entrepreneurs
Read the story →
Jayshreeram Khalipatra
Sridhar Jena, Subham Kumar Nayak, Soumya Sourav
Plates and trays from sal leaves to replace plastic, with a door-to-door delivery plan.
Winning pitch, funded
Read the story →
Eco-friendly dustbin
Sahin (Class 8)
A dustbin made from two used tea cups, showing that waste can replace new plastic bins.
Star Innovator, Tinker on Wheels Sonbhadra
Read the story →
Dustbin from an old monitor
Grade 6 students
A discarded computer monitor turned into a dustbin.
Read the story →
Furniture out of waste
Young Tinker students
Useful furniture built from scrap and waste material.
Read the story →
Paint brush stand from a bottle
Young Tinker students
A used water bottle cut and shaped into a stand for brushes.
Read the story →
Gau Urja incense
TinkerHaat team
Organic agarbatti from cow dung and neem, branded with help from AI and sold at the students' own stall.
Read the story →
Birdhouses for summer
Children of Adruta Children's Home
Wooden birdhouses that give birds shade, food and water in the heat. Students chose the bird species and the dimensions.
Read the story →
Bionic hand
Basudeba Bhoi
A 3D printed artificial hand made from open-source designs, by a paddy labourer's son who joined in 2015.
Prototype lead, NASA Rover Challenge team 2023
Read the story →
Neck support for long sitting
Shreyansh Vikas Mishra
A low-cost device that supports the neck and spine muscles of people who sit for long hours at work.
Top 60 of 6.53 lakh ideas, INSPIRE MANAK; award from Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh
Read the story →
Familiar Faces app
Jagadish and team
An app that helps elderly Indians who move to the US settle in while staying close to their culture.
Winner, TiE Young Entrepreneurs Hyderabad Regional Finals
Read the story →
Eden and EDEN AI
Yagyanvalka Mishra
Clothing that joins Indian handwork and natural dyes to modern style, with an AI stylist that builds outfits from a prompt.
Pitched at ISF Global Junicorn and AI Summit, Texas
Read the story →
Eco Shampoo
Mehbub, Ragavendhar, Venkatesh
A chemical-free shampoo from ritha seeds, sold to nearby shops at Rs 75 for 200 ml.
Seed funded; founder selected for TiE Young Entrepreneurs
Read the story →
HSD Organic soap and scrubber
Sohan Charchi, Himanshu Nayak, Debray Parida
Homemade organic soap and body scrubbers from ridge gourd, packed without plastic.
Winning pitch, funded
Read the story →
RPY washing powder
Rabi Shankar Padhi, Papun Kumar Sahu, Yasir Khan (Class 9)
A chemical-free, eco-friendly cleaning product at Rs 15 a packet, a safe alternative to detergent.
Winning pitch, funded
Read the story →
RDY Framers
Dayamani, Rajeshwari, Yashaswi
Portraits made only from paper, sold to hotels and wedding halls in place of plastic frames, with work for local women.
Seed funded; founder selected for TiE Young Entrepreneurs
Read the story →
Uttam Papad
Uttam Dora, Prajwal Kumar Panda, Debasish Sahu
Flavoured papads made by mothers in the neighbourhood so they earn their own income.
Winning pitch, funded
Read the story →
Kamakhya Badi Company
Bhabani Shankar Sahu, Rudra Shankar Sahu, Bibekananda Sahu
Affordable homemade badi made by local women, including easy-to-chew products for elders.
Winning pitch, funded
Read the story →
Wall Hanger Craft
Deepika, Sravya, Kavitha (Class 10)
Handmade wall hangers for home decoration.
Seed funded
Read the story →
RMP Flowers
Rayan Josh, Mahima Rani, Poojitha
Handmade bouquets as an affordable alternative to shop-bought flowers.
Seed funded
Read the story →
Handmade work for homemakers
Santoshi Sharma, Tanushree Priyadarshini
A home-based model where homemakers and widows make scarves, gloves and decor from recycled cloth and sell them.
Star Innovator, Tinker on Wheels Bhubaneswar
Read the story →
Son Pani Puri Company
TinkerHaat team
A student food stall. One TinkerHaat stall turned Rs 200 into Rs 2,000 in four hours.
Read the story →
3MountCamp
TinkerHaat team
Affordable housing for nomads in the mountains.
Read the story →
StitchMe
TinkerHaat team
Traditional art stitched with modern machines.
Read the story →
HimCamp
TinkerHaat team
Natural camping in the Himalayas, run by students.
Read the story →
ApponArts Co
TinkerHaat team
A startup built on Uttarakhand's traditional art form, aimed at women.
Read the story →
DesignHome
TinkerHaat team
Home decor from sustainable Himalayan forest produce.
Read the story →
FeelNature
TinkerHaat team
Antique-style jewellery made from tree produce.
Read the story →
Paper flower craft
Shana (Class 6)
Decorative flowers from waste paper, planned for sale.
Star Innovator
Read the story →
Soil and cement art
Nandani
Paintings on a base of soil and cement: low-cost art that can be sold for income.
Star Innovator
Read the story →
Ideal village plan
Vivek, Dheeraj, Divya Kumar Sharma (Class 8)
A map of their own village redesigned with clean streets, waste management and small industries.
Star Innovator
Read the story →
Paper art for homes and festivals
Jitendra Kumar (Class 9)
Decorations cut from chart paper, priced to sell at local festivals.
Star Innovator
Read the story →
Village of the future
Teams from 30+ schools, each led by a student Sarpanch
In one hour each team built a paper model village, listed its problems and pitched solutions.
Read the story →Where they are now
Alumni who keep building
Rishikesh Amit Nayak
Student lead of our 2021 NASA rover. Founder of Kishan Know, an ICAR-recognised agritech startup. Represented India at London Tech Week, won the ISRO Innovation Challenge and was overall champion at the AVISHKAR National Makeathon. More
Rina Bagha
Asked a workshop for any job in the lockdown and said "I will do welding too". Welded our NASA rover, then won IIW National Best Welder for Women in 2021 and 2022 and silver at India Skills 2024. More
Kailash Chandra Barik
Worked in his father's roadside cycle repair shop, then fitted the transmission of a rover that came third in the world. Now a welding demonstrator at Kemppi, the Finnish welding company. More
Tanvi Mallick
Student innovator of the year 2019-20 by NITI Aayog, winner at the ISRO Innovation Challenge, one of 50 finalists at Ideate for India, and India's representative at WRO International in Thailand. More
Siddhanth Ghosh
Built his own computer at 11 and an open-source tool for spacecraft entry trajectories. NASA HERC 2023 team member, now studying Aerospace Engineering at Purdue University. More
Sai Akshara Vemuri
Triple world record holder, national archer and builder of a blood-request app for the AP Red Cross. NASA HERC 2023 team member, now studying Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. More
TinkerFest
Challenge champions
At every TinkerFest, students build rovers and rockets overnight and race them the next day. Recent winners:
- 1stPhoenix Crew: Charan, Sakshith, Rishik, Shiva LeelaYTS 1778D
- 2ndApex: Bhaskar, Pramod, Mahesh, NiharikaYTS 1778D
- 3rdMechX: Ganesh, Varun, Srujan, SharanyaYTS 1778D
- 1stIntersteller: Mayank Khanka, Daksh Mehra, Naman Jakhnyal, Piyush Dobal, Kuldeep PantYTS 2980A
- 2ndNexus Creators: Manish Harariya, Anshu Dhami, Chandesh Koranga, Chandan Koranga, Prince ShahYTS 2980A
- 3rdAND: Abhinav Karki, Sneha Pathak, Aditya Adhikari, Chiranjeev Takuli, Karan RathourYTS 2980A
- 1stBlack Falcon: Namini Rathour, Jyoti Koranga, Rituraj, Saurav Joshi, Palak ShahYTS 2980A
- 2ndCreators: Shruti Karki, Sarika Bhauriyal, Kavindra Singh, Rachit Chandra, KanchanYTS 2980A
- 3rdHydro Rocket: Vidhya Koranga, Sarita Rawat, Naitik Pant, Kartik Karki, Komal KarkiYTS 2980A
TinkerFest Sonbhadra
Dec 2025- 1stAstraX: Ankit, Shubham, Dev Kumar, Nitesh Kumar, Jayasant KumarToW Sonbhadra
- 2ndSuraj Prakash, Kishan Agrahari, Ankita Soni, Anushka KumariBirla Vidya Mandir
- 3rdAnurag, Pooja, Anuradha Kumari, Mahendra KumarJivanshala, Bakuliya
- Best presentationTeam Surya: Bikram Kushwaha, Sunil, Sujit, Amarkant, DipuKaramgatti
TinkerFest Bhubaneswar
Nov 2025- 1stTeam SuryadayaPM Shri Govt HS, IRC Village
- 2ndTeam 5 Golden StarsMaharatha Bidyapitha
- 3rdTeam Rani LaxmibaiNilakantha Govt HS
TinkerFest Hyderabad
Nov 2025- 1stFearless Champions: Ganesh, CharanYTS 1778D, Cheers Foundation
- 2ndYoung Champions: Nameera, Kaneez, ZohaYTS 1778B, Montfort School
- 3rdSuper Inventors: Dominic, BhaskarYTS 1778D, Cheers Foundation
Help the next young tinker build
Every rover, satellite and startup here began with a child getting tools, a mentor and a chance. Bring a Young Tinker Space or Tinker on Wheels to more schools.